Washing machine



March 9, 1943. E. w. FORNEY- WASHING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 30, 1941 flWForney Patented Mar. 9, 1943 umrao STATES PATENT OFFICE semis...

Elbridge w- Fo'rney, Canton, 01150 Application Qctober W, No. 417,200 I 5 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved construction of machine for washing, rinsing and drying clothes.

More particularly, it is the aim of the invention to provide a washing machine of very simple construction capable-f being economically ,manufactured and sold and comprising a very few number of parts which combine to form a very emcient and durable machine.

More particularly, it is the aim of the invention to provide a washing machine having means.

whereby the soapy water, used for washing the clothes, can be pumped into a storage chamber or compartment and clear water can then be placed in the washing bowl and used for rinsing the clothes, after which said clear water can,

be pumped out of the machine, clothes dried by being revolved, and the clothes thereafter removed and another batch of clothes, to be washed, can then be placed in the clothes bowl, after which the stored soapy water can be released back into the washing chamber and the operation repeated. Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from same taken substantially along a-plane as indicated by the line 1-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side elevational ,view, partly broken away, and showing a portion of the machine,

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane of the line 8-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of a portion of the side wail of the clothes bowl or tub,

- Figure s is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the plane of the line 8-0 of Figure 5, and

Figure 7 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially along the plane of the line Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the diiierent' views, ll designates generally a washing machine in its entirety and which includes a casing which is substantially squarein cross sections, as seen at H, and which is provided with an open bottTm ii. The casing II is provided with depending less it at the corners thereof. The side walls of the casing ii are turned inwardly, as seen at M, at their upper edges to form the open top ii of thecasing II which is adapted to be closed by means of a removable cover or lid II. The casing H is provided with elevated bottom i1, which is disposed substantially above the open bottom i2 thereof. 1

The annular wall II is disposed in the upper portion is of the casing II and has its lower edge secured to the upperside of the bottom II to form the chamber or tank 20 having a common bottom with the upper casing portion It. The annular wall It is provided with an outwardly projecting flange 2|, portionsof which' en age theside walls of the casing ll, intermediate of the longitudinal edges of said walls, to

hold the cylindrical wall II in spaced relationship to side walls of casting ll, asseenin Figure 2.

a nipple :2 threadedlyl engages alined openings 28 in the casing ii and wall It to provide a atting through which a hose, not shown, can be attached for filling or partially filling the chamber II with water. A conduit 24 has a threaded end engaged with threaded openings II and said end opening into chamber or tank It. The conduit I4 is disposed adjacent the bottom of the tank 20 and the nipple 22 is disposed adjacent the top thereof. Conduit I4 is provided with a conventional shut-oil valve 20 and its opposite,

outer end is adapted to be connected to a drainage hose, not shown, for draining the water from the washing machine, as will hereinafter become apparent.

A'clothes bowl or tub 21 is loosely disposed within the tank 20' and includes a substantially flat bottom 28, which is provided with a central opening re, and an annular upwardly extending side wall 39 which is provided with an inwardly iiared rim M. The conical shaped wall 32 is secured to the upper side of the bottom a, around its opening 29, and extends upwardly and inwardly therefrom. Bottom i1 is provided with a threaded opening 88, which is threadedly ensued by the lower, externally threaded end of an elongated sleeve 34. Said end carries lock nuts SI ioren aging above and below the bottom I1. and washers 8|, which are disposed betweenthe nuts II and the bottom, II to provide a liquid-tight seal. A driven rotary shaft 31 is iournaled' in the, sleeve 34, which forms the bearing thereof. A bar 38 extends across the lower part of the casing ii and is fastened to one side wall thereof, at one end of the bar, by means themed fastening as which extends loosely "through an opening 45 in the casing and which An elongated lever 44 has offset ends 45 and 45 connected by a portion 41, which is angularly disposed relatively to the portions 45 and 45. One side wall of the casing l I, as best seen in Figure 3, is provided with an arcuately shaped slot 48 in which the portion 41 is loosely disposed to position the upper lever portion 46 on the outer side of the casing Ii, and the lower lever portion 45 on the inner side thereof. Portion 45, as best seen in Figure 7, is provided with an angular extension 49 at its lower end, which is pivotally connected by means of a pin 55 atits terminal end to the opposite, free end of the bar 38. The lever portion 45 is pivotaliy connected to the casing H by means of a nut bolt fastening 51 at its apex.

A knob 52 projects outwardly from the upper end of the lever 44. Referring to Figure 4, a bar 53 is secured at its endsto the outer'side of said aforementioned side of the casing H and has an intermediate portion which is offset outwardly therefrom and which is shaped to form notches 54 in the ends thereof. Upper portion 46 extends through a space between the intermediate portion of the bar 53 and the casing II and is adapted to normally engage one of the notches 54 for holding the lever in either its full line or its dotted line position of Figure 3, for a purpose which will hereinafter be described.

A conventional electric motor 55 is preferably outer side with a plurality of longitudinally extending ribs 34, which combine with the member 58 and ring 53 to form an agitator, designated generally 55, which is disposed in the bowl 21. The conical member 58 and the conical shaped wall32 combine to form a cone clutch, designated generally 55, for a purpose which will hereinafter be described.

A ring 61 of rubber or the like is secured to the upper side of the bottom l1 and a plurality of pads 58, of a similar material, are secured to the under side of the bottom 28 and disposed to rest on the ring 51 for supporting the bowl 21 in the position, as seen in full lines of Figure 1.

Wall 35, adjacent its lower edge, is provided with a plurality of struck out portions forming vanes 68 which extend into the space between the walls 30 and I8 and which are twisted from their upper to their lower ends, as best seen in Figure 5, sothat their upper ends are disposed forwardly of the lower ends and in the direction of movement of the bowl 21, as indicated by the arrow 18 in Figure 2. The vanes 59 form openings 11 in the wall which communicates with the space 12, between walls l8 and 38. The wall I8 is provided with a struck out portion forming a baffle 13 which extends into the space 12 and in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the bowl 21. Baille 13 forms an opening 14 between the space 12 and the space 15, between the casing II and wall 18. Wall 18, on its outer side,

carriesguides 15 which slidably engage the shank 11 of a gate valve 18 which is movable into a pofastened to the inner side of the lower portion of the casing H, above the bar 38. However, if desired, motor could be mounted on the bar 38. A driven shaft of the motor 55 is provided with a pulley 55 which is connected by means of a belt 51 to a larger pulley 58- which is keyed to the shaft 31, for revolving the shaft 31. If desired, the shaft 31 could be coupled direct to the driven shaft of the motor 55, with said motor mounted in the same manner as shown in my United States Letters-Patent No. 2,264,202, granted on November 25, 1941.

An inverted cone shaped member 58 is connected at its center to the upper end of the shaft 31 and a smaller cone shaped member 58 is disposed in the cone shaped member 58 and is likewise connected at its center to the upper portion of the shaft 31. is threaded o engage threaded openings 55 in the members 58 and 58 and carries lock nuts 5| for clamping said members securely to one another 7 and for holding them in adjusted positions relatively to the shaft 31. It will thus be readily apparent that the conical members 55 and 53 may be raised or lowered relatively to the shaft 31 and to the casing portion I8. Theconical wall 32 is disposed between and spaced from the conical walls of the members 58 and 58. The lower end of the conical member 58 is provided with a flange 52, which fastens to a ring 53 which is disposed around the conical wall 32. Ring 53 is disposed above and spaced from the bottom 28. The conical wall of member 55 is provided on its The upper end of the shaft 31 sition to close the opening 14. Shank 11 is provided with a handle 18, at its upper end, by which the valve can be moved to a lower, closed position, or a raised, open position. A baffle projects from the wall I8 into the space 12, in the same direction as the baffle 13 and is disposed adjacent the conduit 24.

The casing portion 18 is adapted to be filled through the nipple 22 with soapy water to a level below the level of the upper end of the bearing 34 and the gate valve 18 is opened so that the bowl 21 and the spaces 12 and 15 will be filled with the soapy water to a uniform level. A stufllng box8l is mounted on the lower end of the bearing 34 to provide a water-tight con-'- nectlon, should the water reach the upper end of the bearing. Lid I5 is removed and the bowl 21 is filled with clothes, not shown, to be washed. With the parts in the position as seen in Figure 1, motor 55 is operated to drive the shaft 31 which will revolve the agitator 55 for washing the clothes. After the clothes have been thoroughly washed, lever 45 is moved from its full line to its dotted line position of Figure 3 to raise the This will move the clutch element 59 into engagement with the clutch element 32 to clutch the bowl 21 t0 the shaft 31 and to raise the bowl sufllciently, as seen in dotted'lines in Figure 1, to disengage the pads 58 and the ring 51. This will cause the bowl to. revolve with the shaft and agitator. Assuming that the valve 25 is closed, the water in the bowl 35 will be directed outwardly through the openings 1| by centrifugal force and will be directed outwardly and downwardly by the vanes 55 and forced through the opening 14 into the storage space 15. When the water has been thus removed from the bowl 21, valve 15 is closed and the bowl can be revolved until the clothes have been practically dried centrifugally. If, while the bowl 21 is revolving, the clothes should accumulate in one part. thereof, the weight of the clothes will cause the clutch member 32 to crawl up the clutch member 59 to cause said parts to slip to slow down the speed of rotation of the bowl to indicate to the operator that the clothes should be redistributed therein. In order to prevent the clutch 66 from grabbing, members 32, 58 and 59 are provided with openings 82 to admit soapy water to the engaged places of the clutch for lubricating said places. Before the drying operation, and after the wash water has vanes and centrifugal force will pump the rinse water out through the conduit 24. After the clothes have been washed, rinsed and dried, they are removed from the bowl 21 and another batch of clothes can then be placed therein. The valve I8 is then opened to permit the washing water to return to the bowl and tank and the operation is then repeated.

If desired, the wall l8 could be connected to sides of the casing H, where it approaches said sides, to form four storage spaces in the corners of the casing portion l9. In this case, each storage compartment or space would have to be provided with an opening 14 and a valve for controlling the opening.

Various other modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, provided they fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims, as only a preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed.

I claim as my invention:

1. A washing machine comprising a casing. a chamber disposed in and spaced fromvthe wall of the casing, a tub loosely disposed in the chamher. means for revolving the tub, said tub being provided with a side wall having openings adia cent the bottom thereof, vanes projecting outwardly from said wall so that when the tub is revolved, water contained in the tub. will be forced outwardly through said openings, said chamber having a wall provided with an opening through which the water is pumped by the vanes into the space between the casing and chamber, and a valve for closing said last mentioned opening for holding the water stored in said space.

2. A washing machine as in claim 1, said last mentioned opening being disposed adjacent the bottom of the chamber and casing, and a baiiie projecting inwardly from the chamberwall for directing the water towardthe opening thereof.

3. A washing machine as in claim 1, and a conduit extending through the casing through the chamber wall and opening into a space between the chamber and tub, said conduit being provided with a shut-oil valve, and such shutofi valve being adapted to be opened so that the water will be pumped by the vanes outwardly through said conduit for emptying thetub and chamber.

4. A washing machine as in claim 1, said casing being substantially square and having a bottom, said chamber comprising an annular wall disposed in the casing and secured to the bottom thereof.

5. A washing machine as in claim 1, said vanes being struck out from the wall of said tub to form the openings thereof and being twisted from their upper to their lower ends so that their upper ends will be in advance of their lower ends, whenthe tub is revolved, causing the vanes to direct the water outwardly and downwardly toward the chamber opening.

ELBRIDGE FORNEY. 

